Cooking device



June 14, 1955 M. 1... LIPSICH ETAL 2,710,906

v COOKING DEVICE Original Filed April 7, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 6122 5145; iifazawa. oziijz 1 June 14, 1955 c ETAL 2,710,906

COOKING DEVICE Original Filed April 7, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 4;; W XCQZFfi June 14, 1955 L. LIPSICH ET AL 3,710,905

COOKING DEVICE Original Filed April- 7, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 June 14,1955 |P H ETAL 2,710,906

COOKING DEVICE Original Filed April 7, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 103; fag A4F1 niteci States Patent assignors to yer Chicago, iii a corporation ofliliinois Original appiication Aprii 7, 1951, Serial No. 219,7?6,Divided and this application November 1, B52, Serial No. 318,463

4 Claims. (Ci. 219-) The present invention relates to a food cooker andmore particularly to an electric device for making waffies, grillingsandwiches and broiling steaks and the like and this application is adivision application of our co-pending application Serial No. 219,796filed April 7, 1951.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an electrical cookingdevice which will bake, grill and broil various foods with equalfacility and with little if any inconvenience to the user in doing thesevarious operations in succession.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination grill andbroiler in which the heat for either operation is supplied from the sameheater in the different and correct amounts of heat required for theseoperations.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionwhich will accommodate food requiring a different spacing between twocooperating cooking elements over a wide range and will permit thepositioning of the elements in any one of three diiierent positionsangularly with respect to each other for access and use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wafiie and grill unitwhich has an upper heating unit of variable output over a wide range oftemperatures for other and different culinary operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved wafiie grillsection for delivering extra amounts of heat upon occasion uniformlyover a predetermined area with or without the grid in place, yet isperfectly safe to handle without danger of shocking when heater is coldand exposed.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved switcharrangement of simple construction and operation for varying the heatand output of three heating elements and, in combination with atell-tale light connected in series with heaters not used, to indicatewhen the used heaters are on and when the device is up to temperatureready to cook.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel signal system bywhich it can be determined when the heater is on for any one of a numberof operations and when the device is ready for operation as well as whenthe food is cooked sufficiently.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the classdescribed which is easy to operate, simple and inexpensive tomanufacture and maintain yet rugged enough to withstand abuse and lackof care.

These being among the objects of the invention other and further objectswill appear from the drawings, the description relating thereto and theappended claims.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a combination waffle, grill and broilercooking device embodying the invention with the upper and lower heatingunits located in their closed or wafiie baking position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1

2,7lii,906

Patented Jone id, 1955 with the top unit raised either for removing abaked waffie, or pouring in batter for a waflie to be baked, or forreceiving a sandwich to be grilled.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 with thetop unit moved 180 from its closed position to a position in which it issupported in the same plane with the lower unit as when the upper andlower units are to be used independently as hot plates, griddles, orheaters.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 in which the upper and lower unitscooperate to grill a sandwich as when the upper unit is supported abovethe lower unit by the sandwich itself.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l in which the upper unit is supportedon a wire rack well above the lower unit for broiling purposes with theupper grid removed.

Fig. 6 is a view of the parts making up the hinge embodied in theinvention.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the heating element in the top member.

Figs. 8, 8a, 8b and 8c are schematic views of the control circuits andheaters for the device embodying the invention with the difierentsettings of the switch elements shown for different operations.

Fig. 9 is a front elevational view partially broken away of the controlpanel on the front of the device.

Fig. 9a is a side elevation of the upper handle member showing themounting of the indicator light.

Fig. IL- is a sectional View of the lower unit including the controlswitches as taken on a vertical plane through the middle of the lowerunit.

Fig. ll is a plan view of the lower unit with the grid removed.

The invention is characterized by novel hinge, switch and heaterconstructions and arrangement whereby the upper grill member operates togrill, bake and broil with the same heating elements in a device whichoperates also as a waliie baker upon occasion.

in one instance, the upper and lower units cooperate as a waffle makeras determined by the hinge relationship when the switch is set at apredetermined position. In this relationship the upper grill is limitedin its pivoted movement to approximately from horizontal to 10 pastvertical for access in applying the batter and removing the waffle.Reversal of the grill plates permits the device to serve as a sandwichgrill. In both instances the cooking operation is thermostaticallycontrolled and the weight of the upper unit is in part carried by andshapes or flattens the food being prepared.

When one desires to use the device as a hot plate, the upper member israised to its upper limit and lifted a small fraction of an inch toclear the hinge stops whereupon the upper member can be moved furtherand laid flat to occupy the same plane as that of the lower member.

in this position the upper element can also be used as a. hot plateeither with the grid element present or removed. if removed, otherspecial cooking elements like pressure cookers, deep fat fryers andtoasters can be set upon or attached to the upper element with theheater coil supporting insulators serving as a spider. On the otherhand, if the grid element is left in place other cooking utensils can beset upon it as though upon a stove top.

For broiling meats or toasting bread the grid on the upper member isremoved and a novel wire rack is placed upon the lower grid to carry themeat or bread slices. Upstanding loops on the wire rack engage the upperhousing when it is lowered and support it well above the food asaccommodated by the hinge. In this instance only the upper heating unitis employed to accomplish the broiling or toasting operation and theheat output there is much higher than that dispensed for waiiie makingor grilling.

Referring to the drawings in further detail a cooking device is shown inFig. l which has upper and lower die stamped housings or shells, 2% and21, respectively, hinged together by a hinge represented generally at Atthe front of the lower member 21 is secured an element 23 which has afood 24 and a panel 25 (Fig. 1) which includes a slot 26 and indicia 27thereon. In the slot is a sliding switch control member 2 3 movablehorizontally and having a pointer 30 and a handle 31.

At the rear of the housing 21 there are provided feet 32 which aresecured in place in any suitable manner and are provided with rearwardlyoffset extremities 33 which prevent tipping of the device when the topmember is raised as shown in Fig. 2. On both sides of the lower housing4 are secured handles 34-, having horizontal positions 35 made of amaterial of low heat conductivity so that a users fingers will not beburned when lifting or moving the device.

At the front of the upper housing 2b is secured an element 36, matchingelement 23 in style and design, with a central upstanding ear 37 servingthree urposes, namely, as a handle for raising and lower ing theelement; as a leg when the top member is moved to the position shown inFig. 3; and, as a housing for the tell-tale light so that it can be seenin any position to which the upper housing may be moved. The height ofthe handl above the top of the upper member is the same as the height ofthe legs 24 below the lower member so that both of the two elements arelevel and also level with each other.

The hinge 22 comprises two main units (Fig. 6) an upper unit 40 and alower unit ll, two connecting links 52 and pins as hereinafterdescribed. Both units are preferably made of heavy sheet metal andstamped to have two symmetrically arranged end portions shaped as shownat 43 and 44,, which end portions are connected by band portions 45 and46, respectively.

The units are secured to the respective top and bottom housings 2t and21 along their band portions by being riveted to the back sidewall ofthe respective shells. It is preferred that adjacent edges of the twobands be fiush or coincide with the adjacent edges of the two shells.Two frontwardly opening hook-like ears 46 are struck from the upper band4-5 to extend below the lower edge of the upper shell 20 as moreparticularly seen in Fig. 5 where it serves to locate and secure thewaffle plate as later described.

The lower end sections 44 have a long vertical slot .7 centrally thereinand two ears on its front edge 48. The upper ear 5% is bent to occupy aplane parallel to the band 46 whereas the lower car 51 serves as theupper boundary of a notch 52 which receives and secures in place thegrid on the lower housing 21 as later described. The edges of the lowerend sections 44 are otherwise rounded to an oval form.

The upper end section 43 has two horizontally spaced holes 53 and in thelower portion thereof, and the lower front edge of the upper section iscurved on a radius having the hole 53 in the center. At the rear edgethe curve straightens out to provide a stop at 55, directly below thehole 54-. Contiguous to, above and at approximately right angles to thestop 55 is a slightly rounding cam surface 56 whose upper end forms anappreciable recess at 57 in conjunction with the remaining rear edgeportion 58, which edge portion thereabove follows the oval contour ofthe lower end section over this area as shown in Fig. 7.

The link 42 is offset intermediate its ends to provide appropriateclearances and is pivotally connected at its upper end to the uppermember by a pin 66. The pin is received in the opening 54 in the uppermembers and in the opening 61 at the upper end of the link. The lowerend of the link has a second opening 62 which receives A the shank of apin 63 that in turn slides in the slot 47 with the head of the pinlocated on the opposite side of the slot from the link.

The upper and lower sections 43 and 44 are also slidanly mounted withrespect to each other by pins 64, the shank ends of which are receivedin the holes 53 on the upper member with the other ends extendingthrough the slots 47 and terminating in heads disposed on the outsidefaces of the upper member. In the assembly shown in the first elevenfigures the lower members of the hinge are located on the outside of theupper members 43 and the links are disposed between the members. Onlythe heads of the pins 63 and 64 are seen in the side elevation.Preferably the link in its resting position (Fig. 7) is disposed atapproximately a from the center line of the slot 47. This proum movementbetween the hinge members for l rposes. The upper and lower elements 20and 2.1 carry identical rids 66 preferably die cast of aluminum. Thegrids are perfectly square so that they may be received in the openmouths of the shells in any one of four ways with either face of thegrids exposed. One face 67 of the grid is provided with the usual wafflecontour or bosses 6i bounded by a land 7d and divided into four equalquadrants by cross lands '71. Around the margin of the grid a sealingland 72 is provided to prevent batter from flowing between the gridswhen the wafile side of the grid is in operation. The sealing land 72and the boundary land are disposed parallel with each other and spaced asuffcient distance from each other to provide a trough 73 which hassufficient volume to entrap any extra batter which flows from betweenthe waflle portions of the grid. Furthermore, as seen in Fig. 19 theboundary land 7% and the sealing land 72 are a little higher than thewaffle bosses 63. in both grids the lands and Waffle members areperfectly symmetrical on opposite sides of the cross lands 71 so thatthe two grids can be matched identically in four different positions. Inthis way the positioning of the grids in the shell elements isimmaterial insofar as the making of waffies are concerned. They willalways match. The lands and the waffle elements are coincidentthroughout their facing areas.

A horizontal flange 78 is provided marginally around each grid to engageand rest interchangeably upon the marginal edges of the shells 2t) and21. This flange 78 is disposed closer to the waffle face 67 than it isto the grill face 74. in fact, the flange 78 is so located that it isequidistant from the planes defined by the tops of the waffle bosses 68and the fiat face 74 of the grid.

With this arrangement the tops of the waffle element 63 and the grillface 74 are disposed at the same depth in the shells whenever they areturned inwardly for identical engagement with the thermostatic controlas described herein a little later.

Considering now the heating elements, it will be observed from Figs. 21and 22 of the drawings that in each of the shells 2t and 21 heatingelements are supported on secondary elements or plates 92 as secured inplace by twisted ears 93 received through slots 94 with the plateresting on shoulders 95. In the lower shell 21 the heating element 96comprises a coiled wire stretched slightly and wound back and forth in azig zag or serpentine manner to cover a large area as held and supportedby conventional ceramic insulating elements 97. This provides a widearea of applied heat. On the bottom of the shell a Bakelite housing 98serves as a junction box for the lead-in cord 10% and the electricalconnection with the heaters and leads.

Preferably the wires are secured to terminals 101 insulated from theshell and one of the terminals is connected by a lead 1% to one side ofa combination thermostat and cutoff switch 1% which is responsive to theheat of the lower grill through a metal slug member 104 disposed in heatexchange contact with a bi-metal element 1115 that moves one pole of theswitch with respect to the other. The construction and operation of theswitch and associated constructions are more particularly describedhereinafter.

As already mentioned heretofore, the flange 78 upon the grid locates thegrill face 74 and the extremities of the waffle studs 68 at apredetermined depth in the housing, depending upon whichever is turnedinwardly. The upper face of the metal slug member 1% has an upper limitof location well above this depth. A slot 1% is pro vided in themounting bracket for the switch which permits the slug member 11% toyield downwardly when the grid is mounted in place yet maintain intimateheat eX- change contact between this slug and the grid under the tensionof a spring 107 which not only urges the slug member M4 to its upperlimit, but it also loosens the grid from its resting position when thelatch is released. Thus, whenever the apparatus is operated under thecontrol of the thermostat, the heat developed in the grill by the heaterelement is eilective upon the bi-metal 105 by heat exchange contactthrough the slug member 5 to open the switch when the heat reaches apredetermined temperature and to release the switch and permit it toclose when the heat or" the grid falls below another predeterminedtemperature. Movement of the lever 31 varies or adjusts the bi-metal andswitch for selected temperature through a cam 9? and follower 169 thatchanges the position of the switch with respect to the bi-metal.

The upper secondary plate 1'98 has on it two heaters. One of the heatersis an outside coil 11% which is identical in its electricalcharacteristics with the heater coil 96 in the lower housing 21. Eachpreferably has 4 /2 ohms resistance and when connected in series witheach other they develop approximately 120-9 watts. The other heater 111is equivalent to two heaters connected in series like the coils 96 and1141. Sometimes in this description it is referred to as two heaters tofurther a better understanding of the circuits. One end of the heater111 is connected to a terminal 112 in common with one end of the heater118, the other end of the heater 11 3 being connected to the terminalblock 113 and the other end of the heater 111 being connected to theterminal 11dwhich in turn is connected to the other side of a line at115 through an on and off switch 119. The electrical connections betweenthe terminal block in the lower shell and the terminal block in theupper shell are carried from one to the other at the rear through aflexible wire coil protector 12% located between the hinge elements.

The coils 11d and 111 are supported upon ceramic insulators 116, similarin their mounting to those 97 used in the lower housing with the coil11%) wound near the outside boundary of the plate 108 to a point nearthe top where it is directed inwardly to form an inside loop so thatsubstantially even distribution of heat from the coil is attained forthe grill. On opposite sides of the coil 110 and spaced from it theheater 111 is disposed in two loops approximately equidistant from theheater 11f) throughout their adjacent portions. A pilot lightarrangement 117 comprising a neon light and a 100,000 ohm resistanceconnected in series is connected between the post 114 and the other sideof the thermostatically controlled switch 103 at 118. This latterconnection is in common with one end of the heater 96, the other end ofwhich is connected to the post 113. The telltale light 117 is visible atan opening through a ruby window 120 on the upper front panel 36 of thedevice.

Before describing the detailed construction of the control switch 103,it might be well to consider the arrangement of parts represented in theschematic drawing of the switch and the circuit as shown in Fig. 13. Twoparallel contacts 121 and 122 are shown with the contact 122 connectedto the post 114 and the contact 121 con nected to the post 112. In linewith, but spaced from the contact 121 is a third contact 123 connectedto one side of the line and one side of the switch 163 through a wire124. Opposite the elongated contact 123 and spaced therefrom are twoindependent contacts 125 and 126. The contact 125 is permanentlyconnected to the contact 121 by a lead 127 and the contact 126 isconnected to the terminal post 113 by a lead 128. A sliding bridge 130moves along the contacts and as shown in Fig. 8, is in its 05; positionin which no contacts are engaged or bridged. The switch 119 is held openwhen the bridge 1.10 is in off position as controlled by a cam (notshown).

eferring to Fig. 8a, the bridge 13% has been moved to the right, i. e.to the waffle baking position in which contacts 121 and 122 are bridged.This closes the switch 119 and places the lower heater 96 and the upperheater 110 in series with each other and with the thermostatic switch103. in this position of the bridge the path of electrical current isshown by heavy lines, one side of the line 102 being connected to oneside of the now normally closed switch 1&3 and the other side of theswitch being connected to the heaters Q6 and 114; with the other end ofthe heater 110 connected to the contact 121 by a lead 132, the bridgecloses the circuit to the other side of the line through the contact 122and the lead 119a and switch 119. With this circuit the heat in thebottom shell and the heat in the upper shell will be identical since thetwo heaters are identical and this heat will be controlled by the actionof the bi-Inetal upon this switch 163. In this connection it will benoted that the bars and 122 are elongated so that the bridge 130 willengage both throughout a wide range of movement handle to which movementthe bridge is linked to control the setting at which the switch elementswill be opened by the bi-metal.

With this circuit the tell-tale light 117 is placed in series with theswitch 163 and the other side of the line through the heater 111. Thuswhen the heaters are turned to waffle baking position the light goes oninstantly and goes out when the switch 163 is opened, thereby indicatingthat the waffle grids are right for baking operations. This light willstay oif until the switch is closed again as when the wafile grids areloaded with cold batter. Thereafter the light will stay on until thebaking operation is completed, whereupon the user is signalled by thelight again going out that the wafile is ready for removal.

Referring to Fig. 8b, the bar 130 has been moved to the high broilposition. When the device is used as a broiler the upper grid is removedso that the heaters radiate their rays against the food directly withoutinterruption of current or intervention of any other element. In thisposition of the bar 13 9 the thermostatic switch is not in operation. Itremains open. The heater 111 having one end connected at 114- to oneside of the line through switch 119 works in series with heater 112whose other end is connected to the other side of the line through theleads 132 and 127, the bar 131, the lead 124. With this circuit thetell-tale light 117 is connected in parallel with the heater 111 fromthe post 114 to the post 112 through the heaters 96 and 116. Thus in thehigh broil position, the tell-tale light is on as long as the heater 111is on, and thereby informs the user that the device is using current.

Referring to Fig. 8c, the bar 13% is located in the low broil positionwhere it bridges the contacts 123 and 126. This bridging places thethree heaters 111 111 and 96 in series at 112 and 113 to draw approXi-,mately 800 watts thereby giving a low broiling temperature. The circuitruns from one side of the line through the lead 124 to the bridge 136and through the lead 128 to the binding post 113. This binding post 112,now being dead, the current flows through the heater 111 to the otherside of the line through the lead 133 and switch 119. Here again thepilot light 117 is in parallel with the energized heaters as connectedbetween the binding post 114 and the binding post 113 7 through the idlelower heater 96, so that the tell-tale light is on continuously whilethe heaters are energized.

.[n all three of these instances it will be noted that the tell-talelight is in series with one or more of the heaters which are notenergized. The load of the telltale light being so infinitesimal, thereis no appreciable energization of the heater with which it is in series.However, the tell-tale light serves in all instances to perform theproper function of appraising the user when any of the heaters are on,and when the grill up to waffle baking temperatures, after having beenon to indicate that the heaters were supplying heat to the waffiegrills.

In the embodiment shown four leads pass through their protective conduit129 between the two housings, namely the pilot light lead 139, the ieadthe lead 133 and the lead terminating on the post 1.23 whichinterconnects the heaters 96 and lid.

As will be seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 4- it will be apparent that thetell-tale light is visible to the user regardless of the position theupper unit is disposed in for cooking operations, not only to apprisethe user of the readiness of the device for baking operations but alsowhether or not the device might be hot if otherwise a person would tryto investigate by touching it.

Consequently, to those skilled in the art it is apparent from thedescription and drawings how the objects and results are accomplishedand how various and further constructions and arrangements can be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of whichis commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of upper andlower housings pivoted together, a heating element mounted in the lowerhousing for radiating heat upwardly, two heating elements like the firstheating element mounted in the upper housing and connected in serieswith each other and the lower heating element,

a thermostatic switch, a tell-tale light connected in parallel with saidheaters, one connection between the heaters and the tell-tale lightbeing connected to one side of a house circuit, and the other connectionbeing connected to the other side of the house circuit through saidswitch, a triple position triple pole switch, two of the poles on oneside being connected together and to said other side of the house line,and the other pole on said one side being connected to one of theconnections between two heaters and to one of the poles on the otherside opposite one of said two poles, the other of said poles oppositesaid two poles being connected to the connection between the lower andupper heaters and the third pole on said opposite side being connectedto said other side of the house circuit.

The combination called for in claim 1 in which the pilot li ht connectedin parallel with said three heaters is connected with one of theconnections thereof e7-;tending between said housings whereby the pilotlight is located at the front in said upper housing.

I eterences ited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,74,l73 Neils Mar. 4, 1930 2,136,764 Smith Nov. 15, 1938 2,342,077 JepsonFeb. 15, 1944 2,493,824 Newell July 9, 1946

